Abuser gets probation

Court docket

July 26, 1992

WESTMINSTER -- A 60-year-old Hanover, Pa., man was put on three years' probation Thursday for forcing his 7-year-old granddaughter to fondle him.

As a result of an earlier plea agreement with prosecutors, the former Littlestown Pike man was given a chance to wipe the third-degree sexual offense off his criminal record if he successfully completes probation.

According to court records, the man -- whose name is being withheld to protect the privacy of his granddaughter -- was charged with third- and fourth-degree sex offenses as well as battery last year after his granddaughter told school officials in // York County, Pa., of the abuse.

By pleading not guilty to the third-degree charge and allowing only a prosecutor's statement to be entered into evidence, he got the other two charges dropped. He was found guilty on April 29. Both the man and the State's Attorney's Office agreed to a sentence of probation before judgment.

Last July, while the granddaughter was left in the man's care, he told her to fondle him in bed, court records show.

The man, who denied the allegations of his granddaughter, "was not being truthful when he denied having any sexual contact with the victim," court records show.

In addition to the probation, the man was ordered by Circuit Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. to pay for the victim's counseling and to have no contact with her.